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#FeelsFM – The world’s first-ever Emoji powered jukebox

The world’s first emoji powered jukebox, FeelsFM.co.uk, was released on September 18 to help young people talk about how they’re feeling, after new research revealed only a quarter would tell someone if they were struggling to cope.

Why it is happening

See Me, the national programme to end mental health discrimination, surveyed 1455 young people aged 12-26 on mental health.

They found that:

Only 26% of young people would tell someone if they were finding it difficult to cope, compared to 67% who would tell someone if they were feeling physically unwell.

62% also said they think that people are treated unfairly if they say they have a mental health condition, and only 31% would tell someone if they had a diagnosis.

72% said they would be able to talk to someone if they thought that person was struggling with their mental health.

To help young people to speak about how they are feeling FeelsFM.co.uk was launched at the Barrowlands in Glasgow, where See Me were joined by Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey, as well as Scottish bands Losing Ground and The Violet Kind.

Created as part of the Year of Young People 2018, it designed to help young people express their feelings, use music as a positive coping strategy, and find new ways to talk about mental health stigma.

What everyone’s saying

Shah Gill, 21 years old from Paisley, struggled with his mental health when he was growing up, but didn’t find it easy to talk to people.

When I was in school I was bullied. Often I would struggle with eating habits. I had a lot of insecurities and self-doubt. It wasn’t acknowledged by teachers.

It took me a long time to figure out it was an eating disorder. It’s hard to explain to others what you’re going through when you don’t understand yourself. I think people saw I was struggling, but didn’t know how to handle it.

I struggled to explain to one teacher what I was going through. When I did eventually tell her, she was very dismissive and said I needed to focus on my education. But it is much harder to focus when you are struggling mentally and not getting help.

Shah eventually found he could speak to his mum, and got help with both his eating, and his mental health from a dietician. He also used music as a coping mechanism when he was feeling down.

Listening to music that relates to how you’re feeling is really therapeutic and can help you to understand things on a different level. Songs can reduce you to tears, which can sound upsetting, but it’s a good way of coping.

Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey

We want to normalise mental health issues, so young people can express how they are feeling without worrying about being judged or dismissed.

The emoji jukebox is about tapping in to the power of music. Be it happy or sad songs, many people find that music is an important way of helping them cope and express how they are feeling.

It’s okay not to feel okay. What’s important is that people feel they can seek the help they need and deserve.

Calum Irving, See Me director

Everyone has feelings, everyone has mental health, and most people listen to music. We want to bring this together, so young people can express how they are feeling without worrying about stigma, and get songs to help if they’re struggling.